20th Century
Postcard from Berlin
In June 2017 Master Reggie and I decided to go on a ‘lads’ tour of Berlin. Master Reggie had just completed his degree course and Mrs Reggie suggested it was time for some Father and [more…]
20th Century
20th Century
Hungary 1956; ‘Normalization’ in Budapest
The crushing of the 1956 Hungarian uprising led to repercussions far beyond the borders of the country itself. In its wake communist fellow travellers were forced to confront the grim realities of Soviet realpolitik, the [more…]
20th Century
The Spitfire, of course, Part 2
A couple of years ago I wrote an article here concerning the design of the Spitfire and questioned its status as the best fighter of WWII. I mentioned in that article a follow up piece [more…]
19th Century
The Rise and Fall of the British Police
In light of the recent abominable and unprofessional behaviour, during riots and public demonstrations, by members of what used to be a well-respected British police force — together with their now routine displays of a [more…]
20th Century
Building a nation of psychopaths
It is us, the new radicals, a Labour party modernised, that must undertake this historic mission. To liberate Britain, from all the old class divisions, old structures, old prejudices, old ways of working and of [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – June 1940
80 years ago this month the North African Campaign, or Desert War kicked off. On one side were the Italians, desperately trying to expand their Empire in Africa, on the other were the British who [more…]
20th Century
The most dangerous man in Europe
Otto Skorzeny was mentioned the other day and in the process of investigating something else I stumbled across his story. What a lad, his fearsome reputation didn’t quite match up to reality. He was in [more…]
20th Century
A Passenger’s Tale
How it all began Not long after our new neighbours Ernie and Maisie Allen moved in next door, my wife and I were invited to join them and a group of their friends for drinks [more…]
20th Century
Happy Birthday, Ruby!
Above photo: My ruby laser with a ‘mirror alignment laser’ just off to the right hand side of the photo. A small amount of smoke in the air makes the alignment laser-beam visible. In the [more…]